In 2005, US Airways was going to be a low-cost carrier. In 2007, it was going to be a global behemoth. Yet, in 2009, it is neither. US Airways is the nation's sixth-biggest airline, not the biggest. It flies a conventional network of routes and has high operating costs contrary to the low-cost-carrier operating model.

It's boom and bust for Silicon Valley companies these days. Literally. Facing their worst economic climate since the dot-com bust in the early 2000s, high-tech companies are treating 2009 with dread but also with a tinge of optimism if they act smartly.

To admirers, the American car is the ultimate expression of freedom, aterrestrial comet skimming across a barren highway. To detractors, the American car is a fuel-gulping beast, a steel behemoth that symbolizes industrial decline. Love it or hate it, no other consumer product ignites as much passion or has had such a profound impact on every aspect of American life.

Demand for Ford Motor Co.'s Focus and other small cars has been superheated ever since gas prices headed toward $4 per gallon in May, and since then, Ford hasn't been able to build the Focus quickly enough.

Ford Motor plans to revamp some U.S. plants and bring six small vehicles to the U.S. market from overseas to meet customers' growing demand for more fuel-efficient options, a person briefed on the company's plans said Tuesday.